Chernobyl & Pripyat - Ukraine - October 2014

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I've been sat around on these since 2014!....seeing it was my last jaunt I thought I might as well chuck something up.....better late than never. There's a lot of reports online so I've tried to mix it up a bit and add something a bit different. Theres a couple of generic Chernobyl shots with bits and bobs of what I liked the look of. Its an incredible place as those who have visited will know,

We spent 4 days in total having a good mooch with Nikolai as our guide, he's an absolute legend and made it an outstanding trip, he comes highly recommended as does his moonshine!. I'm well aware that a lot of you will know the history but for those who don't I've added a bit of literature.

In the early hours of 26 April 1986, one of four nuclear reactors at the Chernobyl power station exploded.

The April 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine was the product of a flawed Soviet reactor design coupled with serious mistakes made by the plant operators. It was a direct consequence of Cold War isolation and the resulting lack of any safety culture.

Engineers on the evening shift at Chernobyl's number four reactor began an experiment to see whether the cooling pump system could still function using power generated from the reactor under low power should the auxiliary electricity supply fail.

At 2300 control rods, which regulate the fission process in a nuclear reactor by absorbing neutrons and slowing the chain reaction, were lowered to reduce output to about 20% of normal output required for the test.
However, too many rods were lowered and output dropped too quickly, resulting in an almost complete shutdown.

Concerned by possible instability, engineers began to raise the rods to increase output. At 0030 the decision was taken to carry on.
By 0100 power was still only at about 7%, so more rods were raised. The automatic shutdown system was disabled to allow the reactor to continue working under low power conditions.
The engineers continued to raise rods. By 0123, power had reached 12% and the test began. But seconds later, power levels suddenly surged to dangerous levels.

The reactor began to overheat and its water coolant started to turn to steam.
At this point it is thought that all but six control rods had been removed from the reactor core - the minimum safe operating number was considered to be 30.
The emergency shutdown button was pressed. Control rods started to enter the core, but their reinsertion from the top displaced coolant and concentrated reactivity in the lower core.

With power at roughly 100 times normal, fuel pellets in the core began to explode, rupturing the fuel channels.
At about 0124, two explosions occurred, causing the reactor's dome-shaped roof to be blown off and the contents to erupt outwards.
As air was sucked in to the shattered reactor, it ignited.

flammable carbon monoxide gas causing a reactor fire which burned for nine days.
Because the reactor was not housed in a reinforced concrete shell, as is standard practice in most countries, the building sustained severe damage and large amounts of radioactive debris escaped into the atmosphere.
Firefighters crawled onto the roof of the reactor building to fight the blaze while helicopters dropped sand and lead in an effort to quell the radiation.

The disaster released at least 100 times more radiation than the atom bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Much of the fallout was deposited close to Chernobyl, in parts of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. More than 350,000 people resettled away from these areas, but about 5.5 million remain.

Contamination with caesium and strontium is of particular concern, as it will be present in the soil for many years.

After the accident traces of radioactive deposits were found in nearly every country in the northern hemisphere.

But wind direction and uneven rainfall left some areas more contaminated than their immediate neighbours.

Scandinavia was badly affected and there are still areas of the UK where farms face post-Chernobyl controls.

The sarcophagus encasing Chernobyl was built in haste and is crumbling. Despite strengthening work there are fears it could collapse, leading to the release of tonnes of radioactive dust.

Work is currently ongoing on a £600m replacement shelter designed to last 100 years. This New Safe Confinement will be built on site and then slid over the sarcophagus.

The shelter will allow the concrete structure to be dismantled and for the radioactive fuel and damaged reactor to be dealt with. The ends of the structure will be closed-off.

Despite the lasting contamination of the area, scientists have been surprised by the dramatic revival of its wildlife.

Wild horse, boar and wolf populations are thriving, while lynx have returned to the area and birds have nested in the reactor building without any obvious ill-effects.

Similar Content

April 26, 1986. One single day, that changed the day of numerous people overnight. One day, that entered the annals of world´s history. It was the day, when reactor no. 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was destroyed after a power failure simulation gone wrong. On that day in April 1986 the nightsky exploded. The Chernobyl disaster released as much radioactive material into the environment as 400 atomic bombs would have done.

I think, a lot has already been written about that topic and the Chernobyl catastrophe. A topic that I´ve always been fascinated of for many different reasons. Years ago, I told myself, I would never ever visit the zone. Last year, I´ve changed my mind and visited Chernobyl in September. I´m glad, I did.

Around the nuclear power plant:

Kindergarten of the former village "Kopachi"

Kopachi was a former village near Chernobyl, today located within the Chernobyl exclusion zone. After the nuclear catastrophe in 1986, it was hit hard by nuclear fallout and had to be evacuated. All former houses were demolished and buried. Today, every mound of earth with a warning sign in it, marks the remains of one of the former houses. Only the kindergarten has survived time and does still exist.

Pripyat

"[...] we lived in Pripyat, near the reactor. I can still see the bright- crimson glow, it was like the reactor was glowing. This
wasn´t an ordinary fire, it was some kind of emanation. It was pretty. [....] We didn´t know, that death could be so beautiful."

(Nadezhda Vygovskaya (evacuee from Pripyat), excerpt from the book: Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich)

Middle School No. 3:

Palace of Culture "Energetik":

Amusement park:

Hospital No. 126

The hospital no. 126 consisted of 410 beds and was - among three further clinics - the biggest medical center of Pripyat. Until today the basement of the hospital is not only one of the most contaminated places of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, but of the world. Still, the pitch-dark cellar, holds the suits of the six firemen that were the first to work on the wrecked reactor and afterwards were instantly brought to the city hospital. Of course they received a lethal dosis of radiation. Consequently, they died shortly after their operation of radiation sickness. Still, 30 years after the catastrophe, they are so highly cotaminated that you would receive a lethal dosis in only short time.

Café Pripyat near the same-named river:

Post Office:

Above the roofs of Pripyat:

There´s no better way to get a glimpse of the former size of the city than standing on a 16-storey-building, where the following captures were taken. For me, standing up there, was by far one of the most impressive experiences of my whole life. Only short time after the hard climb up the stairs, one thing really hit me in an instant: an indescribable silence I´ve never witnessed before. No cars, no air planes, no humans. Even birds are hardly singing. It´s probably hard to imagine for lots of people, at least for those living in densely populated areas. Even during a walk in the woods, one normally can hear the typical background noise of civilization. Suddenly, that noise was gone. My first thought was: dead silence. That impression is still affecting me deeply. The fact to look down on former traces of human lives only add to the unreal atmosphere. A whole city is at my feet and all I can hear is simply - nothing. I take a last look at the wrecked reactor no. 4 in the distance that soon will be disappeared underneath the new so-called New Safe Confinement (NSC). Despite the peaceful atmosphere, I still have the uneasy feeling of being a belated witness of a catastrophe which is hard to comprehend.

DUGA - "The Russian Woodpecker"

The DUGA-array was part of an over-the-horizon radar system (OTH) and was located near the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It´s highest antenna was around 150 metres high and does still exist. The range of the array was around 9,000 kilometers. During the cold war era, the radar station was of course like similar stations top secret.

Already at the end of the 1970's an interfering signal was received by short-wave radio stations. It sounded like a woodpecker that´s why it was later called "the Russian Woodpecker". It was early suspected, that those sounds might belong to a Soviet over-the-horizon radar. When reactor 4 of Chernobyl blew up, the OTH system could not be kept secret any longer. Thus, the theory was confirmed

There are also many conspiracy theories concerning the radar station. According to those theories, mind control and the possibility of influencing the weather were made possible by DUGA.

Day 1 of a very memorable trip, wanted to do this for so long and as such the opportunity arose a few weeks back to make it happen.
With it being very short notice, I went on my own and joined a public tour for 2 days, with 5 other folk, only 1 other person taking pictures !! time was limited in each location as we tried to cram in as many different locations as possible.
As such I only had approx 45 mins in here............. first of a few reports to follow of each place i thought worthy of a report

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